University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
(7-3, 0-0BSC)
Warren Wilson
(5-9)
Thomas Sets Program Record in Dominating Bulldog Win Over Warren Wilson
12.10.2016 | Men's Basketball
ASHEVILLE, N.C. - UNC Asheville's top-notch defense was way too much for Warren Wilson as the Bulldogs collected an easy 117-52 win over the Owls on Saturday evening at Kimmel Arena.
The Asheville (7-3) defense forced Warren Wilson (5-9) into 36 turnovers with the Bulldogs scoring 46 points off of the turnovers.
Already one of the tops in the entire nation in the category, Ahmad Thomas continued to show why he is such an elite defender in procuring a program-best 10 steals in the win over Warren Wilson. Thomas also had 13 points to pick up a double-double in the resounding win over the Owls. He has now scored in double digits in every game this season.
In total, five Bulldogs ended their efforts in double figures including Thomas with David Robertson coming off the bench to score 21 points on 7-of-10 shooting. Drew Rackley chipped in with 14 of his own, while Giacomo Zilli (12) and Alec Wnuk (10) were the final Bulldogs in double figures.
Malik Smith just missed on a double-double of his own in the contest with a career-best 10 rebounds to go along with his career-high nine points.
Overall, Asheville ended its win over Warren Wilson shooting 57.1 percent (40-of-70) as a team. The Bulldogs hit upon 52.2 percent (12-for-23) of their three-point attempts in the game.
BULLDOG BITES
KEEPING IT GOING: The Bulldogs have now won four straight and at 7-3 are off to their best start since the 2007-08 season.
ALL INVOLVED: In the win over Warren Wilson, all of the 13 Bulldogs that saw the court scored. The Bulldog bench outscored the entire Warren Wilson team at 71-52. Overall, the Bulldog bench held a 71-36 advantage over the Warren Wilson bench.
PROTECTING HOME COURT: Asheville is undefeated at Kimmel Arena this season with a 3-0 home record. The Bulldogs protected homecourt very efficiently last season as well, going 12-4 at home with the four losses coming from a combined seven total points.
QUOTABLES:
"Overall, I was very pleased with our performance tonight on both ends of the floor. Anytime you are able to force a team into 36 turnovers and get 26 assists on 40 made baskets you are playing the game right on both ends of the floor. That is what I liked the most about the game tonight. I felt like we played the game the right way." - Nick McDevitt
UP NEXT
UNC Asheville will look to continue its winning ways next against local rival Western Carolina at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 17, at Kimmel Arena.
